Curley's Wife A Victim

Curley’s wife is not allowed to talk to any other men but Curley and since she is the only woman on the ranch and the only prominent female character in the entire novel she is only allowed to talk to him. Curley’s wife also states that she doesn’t like Curley that much and that she only

In the novel, Of Mice and Men, I don’t think that Curley’s wife was completely responsible for her own death. I think that several people are responsible for her death for many reasons. For example, Lennie was a bit responsible for her death. A quote from the novel says “Well, you keep away from her, ‘cause she’s a rat-trap if I ever seen one” (Pg 32). This quote from the shows us that Lennie was told by George to not talk to Curley’s wife, because she is trouble. As soon as Lennie saw her, he should’ve ran the other way, because he knows that George told him not to. At the end of the book, Steinbeck reminds us that Lennie remembers everything George has ever told him, so he knew better than to talk to Curley’s wife, no matter how soft her hair

Curley’s wife, who is never given a name, but always called “Curley’s wife”, is shown with a lot of sexual prejudice. She is referred to as a “looloo” (51) with a very flirtatious nature and “she got the eye goin’ all the time on everybody”, and she might “even gives the stable buck they eye” (51). A "ranch with a bunch of guys on it ain’t no place for a girl, specially like

As Candy, the housekeeper mentions to George, ?Well, I think Curley?s married?a tart.? (p. 14) What the men do not know is that Curley?s wife is just incredibly lonely, once having dreamt to be a star, and marrying Curley after the failure of that dream. She is all alone in the secluded world of the ranch. Having a husband who pays no attention to her, she tries to find someone to talk to among the men in the ranch, dressing provocatively for that reason only. Unfortunately, the combination of misunderstanding and their knowledge of only one type of women ? the kind they encounter at ?cat-houses? ? drives the men away from Curley?s wife.

Curley's wife is cast out because she is a woman. Curley watches over her carefully since she is his wife and the only woman on the farm. Curley does not allow his wife to converse with the other workers because he is afraid she will be unfaithful. She complains that individually, the men are generally nice, but in groups, they shun her and are sometimes cruel. Since Curley's wife is oppressed, she lashes out at a target that is weaker than she is, which is usually Crooks. He does the same.

Curley’s wife can be seen as a manipulative, vile woman or a victim of society as a whole. While she does appear to use her sexuality in attempts to get what she wants, I believe she may only be doing this out of necessity. Like the workers on the ranch, she too has her own hopes and dreams that she may never be able to fulfill. Also, there is never any overwhelming reason given for the reader to dislike her, just a general feeling of distaste. The only thing she truly appears to be guilty of is seeking the attention that she lacks from her husband. She may not be a paragon of virtue, but she is more a product of society than an innately terrible person.

As the only female on the farm, Curley’s wife is an outlier, often judged or ignored solely because of her gender. Throughout the book, Curley’s wife typically dresses in a risque fashion that results in the men making assumptions about her. The workers perceive Curley’s wife as a physical temptation and an object that they need to avoid in order to stay out of trouble. When first arriving at the farm, George says to Lennie, “Don’t you even take a look… I seen ‘em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jailbait worse than her” (Steinbeck 32). George’s reference to Curley’s wife as “poison” and as “jailbait” signifies that not only is she an object in their eyes, but that she is troublesome.

("Curley's Wife") She is portrayed as a “bitch” that threatens to destroy male happiness, when all she really wants is to talk and be heard. Always being isolated and holed up inside a house all day really takes a turn on the mind after a while, so it’s no wonder Curley’s wife tries to speak with the workers anyway. She still tries to talk to the workers on the ranch, even though they’ve made it perfectly clear that they don’t like her.

Curley 's wife suffers from oppression and discrimination because of her gender. Being the only central female character in the novel, she represents ‘mice’ in the title much like Crooks the black stable buck who were part of the smaller and weaker minority in 1930s societies when compared to the ‘men’. She is Isolated from the company of others because the ranch workers fear the act of vengeance from her jealous and dictatorial husband. In order to make it easier to ignore her, the men call her "Curley 's Wife", thereby dehumanising her and reducing her to a mere possession. Also, because she is young and attractive, the men label her a "tart" and "jailbait", which is a stereotype label that the men place on her as

Curley's wife could not get a job of her own she could only stay around the house. These are the reasons she wants to talk to the men around the ranch. The men around the ranch do not really want to talk with Curley's wife because they think she brings trouble. They know that Curley is the son of the boss and that he controls the ranch. Curley's wife even attempts to make friends with Lennie because she is so bored.

Often in society today, many people mistake victims for villains. For example, a few years ago in Florida an incident occurred where a young teenage boy was getting skittles out of a convenience store. A neighborhood watch man thought he appeared suspicious, questioned him and ended up shooting the young boy in “self-defense”. Even today, many think that he was a villain for doing this, while some think it was perfectly fine. This can relate to the novel Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck.

Curley’s Wife is always dealing with discrimination as a result of her gender. As a woman in this time period, her feminism restraints her from communicating with the other men on the farm. That isolates her greatly taking into consideration that a majority of the workers have that capability. Many of the men on the farm ignore Curley’s Wife, which then makes the atmosphere around her very tense and lonesome. When she does try to communicate with the workers, there is always a type of suspicion on her motif. The workers mention that, “I think Curley’s married… a tart” (Steinbeck 28). Curley’s Wife is stereotyped as a beautiful, passionate, and an untaught female. One of Curley’s Wife biggest regrets is her decision to marry off instead of pursuing her dream of performing on the road. On all accounts, the theme of oppression is visible in the character of Curley’s Wife on the grounds of her feminine

Curley’s wife becoming a wife does not mean she starts belonging to Curley or a house for she is still an individual who belongs to no one except herself. The ranch hands see Curley’s wife as someone who should stays home 24/7 and listen to every demands of her husband essentially throwing her into the stereotype of what they think being a wife is and not giving a thought about how she also have hopes and dreams like everybody else. Being a woman does not mean a person becomes restricted from doing certain things nor does it automatically makes a person

In my opinion Curley’s wife was somewhat responsible for her own death due to the fact that she was repeatedly warned to stay away, told to leave and if she listened she would not have been in a situation that would have endangered her. Candy told Curley’s wife when she was in crooks room that “You [Curley’s wife] got no call foolin’ aroun’ with other guys, causin’ trouble. “ (Steinbeck 77). She knew full well that if continued to interact the way she was with other men that it would end poorly, but yet she continued to do it which resulted in her death. In addition to that Lennie told her in the barn after he killed his dog, “No, sir. I ain’t gonna talk to you or nothing” (Steinbeck 86) which she responded to, “ listen… all the guys got a

In today’s society, women have more independence than they used to in the 1930’s. Back in that time, women didn’t have as much freedom and were treated as property. In the book, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the author illustrates the position of women during the 1930’s through a character who has no name other than Curley’s wife. Steinbeck characterizes Curley’s wife in such a way that she is considered to be both a troublemaker and an innocent victim. She repeatedly comes to the barn and talk to the men because she doesn’t have anyone else to talk with. All the men on the ranch treat her as a tart without knowing her background and her past experiences. Even though Curley’s wife is known as a villain due to her seductive behavior, she is portrayed as a victim because of her lack of identity and her loneliness.